SURAT (Commodity Online): Surat, world’s biggest diamond polishing centre, is now facing a strange problem of lack of skilled labourers as several of them had left the profession when recession hit the global diamond market in 2008.

Surat diamond industry, which had to cut down production and layoff its workers due to full inventories after Diwali last year, is now trying hard to meet the demand this year.

The industry is witnessing shortage of trained manpower and rough diamonds as well. Industry sources say the supply of polished diamonds from the city is 25-30% lower than the domestic and international demand ahead of the Christmas season, said a report appeared in a leading daily of India.

There is a very good demand for polished diamonds from domestic market and Western countries ahead of Christmas. However, the industry is able to supply only 70-75% of the demand due to recent Diwali vacation and shortage of trained workers.

The size of Surat diamond industry is around Rs 80,000 crore and it contributes 90% of India’s diamond exports. More than 3,000 diamond units provide direct employment to around 5 lakh workers. The demand for skilled workers has now shot up to 80,000.

The slowdown in the Western markets since January 2008 had put the industry in a crisis after September 2008. Subsequently, the one-month long Diwali vacation had to be extended to more than 45 days, as inventories were full and weak demand persisted from traditional diamond markets like US and Europe.

A section of industry believes there is shortage of rough diamonds.

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